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Brace of tries for Will Brown against Richmond

Will Brown bags a brace of tries in Jersey Reds win against Richmond by 29 points to 13 earlier this afternoon

Jersey Reds v Richmond preview

Jersey Reds and Richmond will reach two decades of league rivalry later in 2022, meaning Saturday’s encounter at Stade Santander International is particularly eagerly-awaited. Dating back to the 2002/03 season, the two clubs have built up a strong mutual respect, although the bonhomie will be suspended once the latest round of Championship matches gets underway. After ringing the changes among half of his starting line-up ahead of last weekend’s win at Ampthill, Jersey Director of Rugby Harvey Biljon will send out a more settled starting XV. James Mitchell and James Elliott have rotated frequently at scrum-half, with Mitchell getting the nod this week, while in the front row Steve Longwell is promoted from the bench to start at tight-head. The final change comes in the back row, with new signing Alun Lawrence earning a start after impressing as a replacement on his debut at Ampthill. This means Tim Grey moves to flanker, while Lewis Wynne will be on the bench after captaining the Reds in every league game so far this season. While Wynne waits to make an impact from the bench, lock forward Macauley Cook will lead out the side; Cook is one of only two players – alongside wing Will Brown – to have started all 13 Championship games so far. Prop Jack Higgins and three quarter Ryan Olowofela both return to contention having been selected on the bench. The current season is the seventh in the past two decades when the clubs have been in the same league. In 2002/03, Richmond were champions of London 3 South-West (level 7), defeating the Reds 3-32 at St Peter and 30-13 at the Richmond Athletic Ground as part of a run of 83 successive league wins. In 2010/11 it was Jersey who gained promotion, from National Two South – honours between the two sides finished even, with Jersey winning 29-9 at St Peter having lost 25-14 in south-west London. More recently the clubs have met eight times in the Championship, with the Reds winning six of the encounters and also taking the honours in two Championship Cup games. At the end of October last year, the visitors from Jersey made an impressive start at the RAG, with Wes White crossing in the fourth minute, and led 0-19 at the break; but it was a far closer affair after that, with Richmond closing the gap to just two points on the hour mark before the Reds claimed a fourth try and eventually won 20-26. Jersey Reds 1st XV squad v Richmond (H) – RFU Championship match 14/20, Stade Santander International, Saturday January 29th 2022, k-o 2pm Backs (15-9) Scott Van Breda; Brendan Owen, Jack Roberts, Jordan Holgate, Will Brown; Tom Pittman, James Mitchell. Forwards (1-8) James Flynn, Eoghan Clarke, Steve Longwell, Sean O’Connor, Macauley Cook (capt), Alex Humfrey, Tim Grey, Alun Lawrence. Replacements (16-23) Harry Doolan, Roy Godfrey, Jack Higgins, Tom Everard, Max Argyle, Lewis Wynne; James Elliott, Ryan Olowofela.

Jersey Reds tries v Ampthill

The Reds returned to winning ways thanks to a hard-fought win against a resilient Ampthill, coming from behind to seize victory through Jordan Holgate’s try with 12 minutes to play. After successive defeats to Bedford Blues and Doncaster Knights either side of the New Year break, the visitors started with real determination and dominated the first 25 minutes. Possession was secured directly from Scott Van Breda’s hanging kick-off and the home side’s defence came under immediate threat. A scrum offence and several other penalty concessions gave the Reds a series of opportunities, but attempts to get a rolling maul going were unsuccessful, the nearest effort being held up over the line. The frequent use of grubber kicks behind the defence almost paid dividends when Van Breda was just beaten to the touchdown of a Pittman grubber, but the next time the Reds fly-half threaded a kick through the home defence couldn’t deal with it and Brendan Owen pounced to score his third try of the season, with a fine conversion added by ‘SVB’. The Reds carried on in the same vein and looked by far the most likely side to score next, with Ampthill not helped by the loss of debutant scrum-half Harri Morgan with an ankle injury early in the second quarter. But having soaked up a considerable amount of pressure, the hosts then struck on the counter. Having dropped a kick near his 22 minutes earlier, Joe Goodchild atoned with a run out of defence after fielding James Elliott’s box-kick, chipping over the cover and regathering. The ball was kept alive with great hands from Joe Bercis and Josh Bragman before Ben Cambriani applied the finishing touch with a 35-metre sprint down the left touchline to score. In spite of their overall dominance, the Reds had nothing to show for it on the scoreboard. Further chances came to nothing, while the hosts had to play with 14 men after Cambriani cynically prevented the Reds recycling ball from a breakdown close to his own line. At one stage prop Luke Yendle crossed the line but was again held up, while there were some powerful runs from – among others – Jack Roberts and Tim Grey. It looked as if the attacking lineout option was finally bearing fruit on the stroke of half-time. A maul rumbled towards the try-line before stalling momentarily with direction from the referee to use the ball and the whistle blowing just before Eoghan Clarke dived over the line. It was close, but no try… and there was no more time as the half-time whistle blew. With efforts to capitalise from attacking lineouts having failed to bring points, it was no surprise to see Van Breda opt for the posts when the Reds won a penalty in the centre of the field 10 minutes after the resumption, and the full-back bisected the uprights to restore his side’s lead. Shortly afterwards it was Jersey’s turn to go down to 14 men with an over-physical entry to a ruck by Eoghan Clarke sparking a scuffle and a yellow card for the hooker. Ampthill took advantage to kick to the Reds’ 22 and then replacement scrum-half Kevin Barrett sprinted through a yawning gap to almost reach the line, something Bercis was able to do two phases later with the try awarded following consultation between the officials. The visitors needed to dig deep in order to wipe out the deficit and showed an increased inclination to keep ball in hand. Van Breda’s massive touchfinder from a penalty set up more than a dozen phases of play, with debutant Alun Lawrence playing a prominent role, but a potential scoring pass from Will Brown to Lewis Wynne went to hand. The decisive move came after the Reds attacked from halfway after fielding a clearance kick. Several phases put the home defence under stress, and when it came, the try was a simple one. James Mitchell took possession from a ruck, glanced left, hesitated momentarily and then delivered a short pop-pass to Holgate, who was running a devastating line and raced to the try-line. Van Breda converted and the Reds had a five-point lead. The final 10 minutes featured half-chances for both sides, but the Reds were able to defend in relative comfort and had a chance to move clear when the pack won a scrum penalty in the penultimate minute. Van Breda summoned the tee and lined up from 30 metres out, but his high kick was adjudged (by the officials, with the kicker appearing to belong to a different school-of-thought) to have passed just to the wrong side of the upright. The missed kick, Van Breda’s first of the game, meant Ampthill clung on to their losing bonus point and still had an outside chance of victory. But regaining possession from the 22-metre drop-out proved beyond them, and the Reds controlled the ball for a few vital seconds before Mitchell acted on the referee’s ‘time’s up’ advice and kicked it dead.

Post match thoughts from DOR Harvey Biljon after win against London Scottish

Tries v London Scottish

The Reds produced an impressive display to deliver a gift-wrapped bonus point victory to their supporters in the final home game of 2021. Four first-half tries were at the heart of the display, with London Scottish being outmuscled and exposed out wide on several occasions. The Reds opened the scoring from their first line-break as a flat pass from fly-half Tom Pittman sent Jordan Holgate racing through. Holgate’s pass to Ryan Olowofela left the wing with plenty to do from 35 metres out, but he accelerated round the outside to score. Two Harry Sheppard penalties from the same location, 36 metres from the posts, gave the Exiles a narrow lead before the Reds responded with a try from a driving maul, finished by Steve Longwell. Jersey’s 19-year-old hooker Harry Doolan had an early taste of the action when Eoghan Clarke was forced from the field with a head injury after just five minutes, with the replacement playing his part in a committed display by the home pack. The Reds raised their game in the closing stages of the half. Olowofela raced through again and supplied a scoring pass to Macauley Cook, and then from closer range Max Argyle fed Holgate for the bonus point score. Former Jersey hooker Nick Selway gave the Scots hope when he scored from a rolling maul early in the second half but then the Reds cranked up the pressure through their forwards. There were also occasional threats out wide, with Olowofela coming very close to an interception score at one stage. The Exiles resisted strongly at first, but were conceding multiple penalties and eventually the referee lost patience and sin-binned replacement prop Alex Gibson for one scrum infringement too many – the visitors eventually conceded a total of 18 penalties to 10 by the home side. The Reds carried on attacking through the forwards but then worked the ball wide during another period of penalty advantage – as the ball was spun wide, new signing Ioan Davies fed Brendan Owen for a try in the corner, impressively converted by Pittman. Director of rugby Harvey Biljon was pleased to see his Jersey side take their chances. “We couldn’t always play at the speed we wanted to, and Scottish battled hard, but the boys were pretty clinical, especially at the back end of the first half,” he said. London Scottish director of rugby said: “Our defence let us down in the first half – we were too tight at the breakdown and Jersey punished us. “I was super-proud of the guys’ performance in the second half, the defence was excellent and we made a real contest of it. It was a tough day but we’ll learn a lot from this.” With matches involving the top two having been called off, the bonus point victory was enough to see the Reds go above Cornish Pirates into second place in the Championship, two points behind leaders Ealing. JERSEY REDS: Owen B; Olowofela (Davies 62), Holgate, Barnes (Roberts 35), Brown; Pittman, Elliott (Mitchell 68); Flynn (Owen H 62), Clarke (Doolan 5), Longwell (Higgins 74), O’Connor, Cook (Everard 74), Humfrey (White 51), Wynne (c), Argyle. LONDON SCOTTISH: Fielding; Ferdinand, Hanks (Georgiou 51), Pohe, Halaifonua; Sheppard, Nutton (May 44); Reynolds (Zigiriadis 51), Selway (c), Rees (Gibson 68, YC 72), Tyas, Balocco (Ehizode 51), Baldwin (Ingall 44), Tuilagi (King 57), Wilson. Unused: Petty REFEREE: Nick Wood. Assistants: James Clarke, Michael Woods Half Time: 24-6 Attendance: 1,028 Scorers Jersey Reds Tries: Olowofela 8, Longwell 25, Cook 33, Holgate 37, Owen B 74 Conversion: Pittman 33, 37, 74 London Scottish Try: Selway 50 Conversion: Sheppard 50 Penalties: Sheppard 11, 15

Ryan Olowofela interception v London Scottish

Post match reaction from Harvey Biljon after win against London Scottish

Opening Jersey Reds try from Ryan Olowofela against London Scottish

A line out move, some nifty hands and feet from Jordan Holgate sets up Ryan Olowofela to speed past the defence and score in the corner